Public Hearing Turnout Low On New Nn Superintendent

NEWPORT NEWS — One person spoke Tuesday night when the Newport News School Board conducted the first of three hearings to find out what the public wants in the next superintendent.

And that person, the Rev. Lawrence Bethel, pastor of Carver Memorial Presbyterian Church, said he would rather have been at the national NAACP convention in Charlotte, but he couldn't make it.

The public hearings - one is scheduled for tonight and another for Thursday night - are the first public step in the search for a successor to outgoing Superintendent Eric J. Smith, who has accepted the superintendent's job in Charlotte and will leave Newport News this month.

School Board members speculated that the tiny turnout had to do with busy, summertime schedules, though the streets around Huntington Middle School, where Tuesday night's hearing was conducted, were teeming with people strolling and riding bicycles.

Board members stopped short of criticizing anyone but expressed concern about the turnout.

``Certainly, it would helpful to me to hear from the people I represent,'' said board member Effie C. Ashe, who, along with board member David T. Lawrence represents the southern part of the city.

``I would have hoped we would have had more people come,'' Lawrence said.

Bethel, who often speaks out on behalf of Newport News' black residents, said he hopes the next superintendent emphasizes decreasing the disparity between black and white students and hires more black administrators and teachers. Black students make up slightly more than half of the enrollment in public schools in Newport News, and Bethel said teaching ranks should reflect that. About 34 percent of teachers in the city are black.

Bethel encouraged the board to accept letters from those who cannot attend the hearings.

It does. Chairwoman Betty Ann Davis said the board has received one letter so far.

HEARING SCHEDULE

Hearings to get public input on what the Newport News School Board should look for in its next superintendent will be at: